


Saber Rattling

by Aishuu



Series: The Reluctant Hokage [13]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Politics, ninja playing politics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-23
Updated: 2015-03-23
Packaged: 2018-03-19 07:15:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3601083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aishuu/pseuds/Aishuu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Itachi takes a Kage class mission, but it's not because his superior skills are needed. It's all about the politics.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Saber Rattling

Itachi has learned that it is impossible to save everyone. Part of being Hokage is doing his best to pretend that isn't the truth, but the cold reality is that he is only one man, and there's no jutsu in the world that will let him protect everyone all the time. 

He's reminded of this every time a mission request comes into the office. Every mission he accepts is a risk, but Konoha cannot exist without performing missions. As part of the complicated dance that comprises international politics, Itachi is pressured to pick more and more daring escapades to ensure the village remains a respected and feared presence internationally. It's a balancing act, because by definition, a hidden village must not outshine the prestige of the nation it inhabits. 

Every now and then, the village gets a reminder about its place in the grander scheme.

He is seventeen when the first Kage class mission hits his desk. The mission bears the seal of the Fire Lord, and it doesn't take any great amount of intuition to he know that he's not going to like what's inside. While theoretically, he could reject it out of hand, he understands the underlying message: the Fire Lord wishes to bring his attack dog to heel and remind him who the master is. 

If Itachi had a bigger ego, he would have been offended on his own behalf at the high-handedness and condescension the words represent. If Itachi had more ambition, he might attempt to subvert these orders and plot against the Fire Lord. The village elders have long sought to throw off the limits set by the compacts Shodaime had signed, and they might turn the other way should the Hokage decide it's time Konoha stands on its own.

But in the end, it's all for Konoha, and he is the village's greatest weapon. A master-crafted blade that gets no use is no better than a rusty kitchen knife. A Kage that never leaves doesn't serve as a good threat to warn invaders never to come. And Itachi knows his history well enough to understand that no village has ever successfully stood alone against the world. Konoha is not an island, and he cannot pretend the village could withstand an alliance against it.

So he makes arrangements to go, making sure that Koharu and Homura will watch over the paperwork, and that Kakashi and Shisui will not be assigned while he's out of the village. It's best that his absence is kept as secret as possible until he's back. He doesn't want to court a coup d'etat by leaving an open window for someone like Danzou to step in.

It makes him think of what will be done if he should die unexpectedly, like the Yondaime had. He needs to have a plan for a successor, since it's unlikely Sandaime will be able to step back in. But that is a thought for later, because now he has a mission to fulfill.

Itachi goes to kill, because that is what it means to be shinobi. The mission is challenging, but it could have been easily accomplished by an elite jounin like Kakashi instead of insisting that it be undertaken by the Hokage himself. There's nothing about killing a merchant who managed to piss off the Fire Lord's chief adviser that needs anything requiring amazing skill. Takouji Hiroshi may have a dozen personal body guards, but none of them have training in the shinobi arts.

It doesn't matter that it's Takouji Hiroshi that dies. What matters is the way he dies.

A good shinobi can come and go without anyone being the wiser, removing their targets with surgical precision. Only amateurs or the most highly skilled ever leave a sign of their presence, a mark that they were there. Itachi knows that part of his mission is making sure that people know he is there.

When he walks into the village, he wears a cloak fringed by fire, one modeled off what Yondaime had once worn. The cloak drapes over his more bland clothing, but it immediately identifies him to the casual observer as the Hokage, since no one else would dare wear flame-trimmed robes. Aside from causing potential offense to the hidden village, it's marking him as a target for anyone who wants to earn a reputation as "the one who slew the Hokage."

Night is less than an hour off, and the sky is starting to turn orange in preparation. Itachi casts a long shadow as he makes his solitary way through the street. The streets fall silent as he makes his way through town, and people part like grains of sand in front of him. He keeps his eyes forward, the Sharingan burning brightly, knowing that this pageantry is necessary. People will talk later, for years and years after tonight, about being witness to the Hokage.

He doesn't stop to ask for directions, since thankfully the mission directions had contained the specifics about where his target resided – and that his target's wife is throwing a birthday party for Hiroshi tonight. Itachi thinks the casual cruelty implicit in this mission's orders are sign of how petty his current employer is.

He casts the genjutsu before he steps into a room, a simple one that causes people to freeze when they see him. Overkill may be the name of this game, so Itachi doesn't see the point in making this complicated. Besides, he doesn't want to permanently damage any of the witnesses.

Itachi always has reasons upon reasons for his every action.

He can feel the ripple effect as people catch sight of him, as the room stops and stills as he passes by. He doesn't say anything as he walks up to the target, recognizing him from the mission specs. Hiroshi has frozen, a confused expression on his face. He can't immediately process what Itachi's presence might mean, and he's not going to live long enough to have a chance to figure out.

Itachi would pity the man, if he had pity to spare.

Instead, he kills the man swiftly by bringing the sword through his neck, moving more quickly than the nontrained eye could follow. To the onlookers, one instant Hiroshi was alive, and the next instant the man's still-twitching corpse is falling away from his head. The blood-splatter is impressive and horrifying, but Itachi doesn't flinch as it splashes him across the face. Instead, he calmly walks over to where the man's head landed and picks it up by the hair.

No one reacts until one of Hiroshi's serving women begins to scream. Thankfully no one is stupid enough to try to stop Itachi.

He leaves the room carrying the head, and promptly goes to the nearest shinobi post office to order it delivered to his client. He's fairly certain the client is not going to like getting notification this way, but Itachi doesn't care. Imagining what the adviser's face will look like upon opening the package is the only satisfaction Itachi can find in this whole sorry mess.

Then he shucks his cloak and packs it away with the rest of his gear to begin his trek home. He sets a leisurely pace, not letting himself think about anything except admiring the scenery and making sure no one is going to sneak up on him. It's the first time in years that he's truly been alone, without anyone trying to protect him or spy on him or murder him. 

Itachi can almost breathe again. He understands why Kakashi dawdles on returning to Konoha after missions.

About three hours away from Konoha, he arrives in Hondou, which is a small smattering of houses gathered around an inn/teashop/general store. It's a common stopping stop for travelers since it's on the main road, and Itachi is just one more shinobi passing through.

He wears the Konoha forehead protector, the one that he hasn't donned since Sandaime selected him as Godaime. The truly great ninja of the village often stop wearing the village's symbol, since they're supposed to be famous enough that others will recognize who they are and what village they belong to. Itachi finds the forehead protector much more practical than the Funny Hat. Just for this moment, he can pretend to be nothing more than a regular shinobi, which is all he ever wanted to be. 

The dango are just as good as he remembers.

The waitress is flirtatious as she attends to him, and leans over so he can get a look down her cleavage. He thinks she might be trying to sell more than just tea. Itachi is nonchalant as he diverts her attention by talking about the road conditions instead. A way point inn like this one is always interested in knowing what's happening around it, so the girl doesn't keep pressing. 

Instead, she offers him similar information she's received from other travelers. There's a drought starting to the north, and the farmers don't think they'll have a good yield. To the west the main gossip's about the Yondaime Kazekage's continued difficulties with his youngest son. In the opposite direction, the roads to Iwa are finally clear of the bandits that had been besetting them for the past couple of a weeks thanks to a couple of foreign shinobi passing through, which naturally raises his curiosity.

"What country were the shinobi from?" he asks.

She shrugs, her shoulders rises and falling with the care of someone who doesn't trouble herself with the details. "I don't know, but they weren't from Konoha. They were wearing the strangest cloaks," the girl says. "I couldn't see their faces."

"Cloaks?" he echoes, curiously. 

"Black, with bright red clouds painted all over them," she said. "Like some kind of twisted night sky."


End file.
